New England College of Optometry history

As optometry became a more established profession, the school’s name changed in 1901 to the Massachusetts School of Optometry.

By 1905, the school’s enrollment had expanded.

In 1909, the school began offering a two year program and in the same year, the National Board of State Examiners in Optometry was established.

In 1912, new laws began to require licensure and registration in the Commonwealth.

In 1916, the school opened a new location at 168 Massachusetts Avenue in Back Bay, near what is today’s Berklee College of Music.

Patient care has been an integral part of NEco since 1933, when an external clinic was founded at the Harry E. Burroughs Newsboys Foundation.

By 1939, the first four year program was offered and the administrative offices, labs, and lecture rooms were housed on the second and third floors of 1112 Boylston Street, with the clinic next door.

In 1941, it opened the Massachusetts Optometric Clinic on Commonwealth Avenue that evolved into our multi-site clinical subsidiary.

In 1946, at the age of 68, Doctor Theodore Klein died unexpectedly at work from a cerebral hemorrhage.

Having gained full formal accreditation in 1950, the school again changed its name to the Massachusetts College of Optometry and began conferring bachelor of science degrees in optometry.

First optometry school to affiliate with a United States public health hospital (1968).

In 1969, a new president Doctor William Baldwin brought new energy and enormous change to the college and to optometry.

1972, under the Baldwin administration, the college affiliated with the newly created community health centers and became the first college to develop a community-based approach to clinical training — a commitment to community care that continues today.

In 1975, the college was called to educate and certify the first optometrists to use diagnostic pharmaceutical agents.

First modern optometry curriculum in China in collaboration with Wenzhou Medical University (1992).

In 1993, NECO was awarded its first federal research grant and established what is now known as the Myopia Research Center.

Following Doctor Lewis’s tenure as President, Elizabeth Chen became President of the College in 2006, holding the distinction of being the first female to be named the president of a school of optometry.

In 2017, New England Eye was renamed the New England College of Optometry (NECO) Center for Eye Care and a beautiful new clinic and optical center were built on the first floor of the location.